Interlocking device for dispensing pumps



June 14, 1938. C, s HAZARD l 2,120,645

INTERLOCKING DEVICE FOR DISPENSING PUMPS Filed Oct. 8, 1954 Patented June 14, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT `orifice v Charles S.Hazard, New York, N. Y., assignorto Neptune Meter Company, a corporation of New Jersey Application October 8,

13 Claims.

line delivered to a customer and which is pro-I quantity of gasoline delivered to the previous customer, as well as for that which he actually receives. Such incidents would clearly be ,a source of customer dissatisfaction and, accordingly, it is desirable that precautions be taken to insure against their occurrence whetherlas a re- `su1t of inadvertence or of fraudulent intention.

Some dispensing pumps are arranged 4so that when the delivery hose is removed from a hose supporting hook a switch controlling the pumpoperating motor is actuated to start the motor to dispense gasoline, and when the hose is replaced on the hook the switch is automatically operated to stop the motor.

One of the principal objects of the present-invention is to provide such a dispensing pump with means for interlocking the resetting mechanism of the register with the operating means for the switch controlling the operation of the motor that drives the pump by means of which gasoline or other liquid is dispensed.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent upon consideration of the following description and appended claims when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of a liquid dispensing pump embodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged rear View of the registomer may be charged for a part or all of the 1934, Serial No. 747,379 (Cl. 221-) tering device and shows the resetting mechanism therefor;

Figure 3 is an enlargedview pf a portion of the interlocking deviceV shown inFigure l;

Figure 4 Ais a .sectiona1 yview taken along the 5 line 4 4 vin Figure 3; and l Figure 5 vis'an enlarged detail view of part-of the resetting mechanism.

-Referring to the drawing, the numeral l0 designates an electric motor for operating a pump Il to withdraw gasoline from a suitablestorage tank and force it through ya hose l2 to the gasoline tank of an automobile or other point of delivery.. The motor AIl) is controlled by a switch I3`having an operating arml connected by a link rod l5 to a pivotedhose hook IE. With this arrangement, when the hose is removed fromthe hook the switch may be moved to its on position for starting the motor to drive the pump and cause delivery of gasoline; replacement. of the hose on the hook automatically moves the switch arm to its off. position and stops the pump-operating motor.l Whenk the hose nozzle I1 is hung on hose hook |.6 with the end portion of the nozzle extending into an opening or hood 25 I8 in the pump casing, as'diagrammatically illustrated in Figure 1, it prevents counter-clockwise movement of the hose hook and acting through link l5 locks the switch arm Il against movement toits on position. 30

Interposed in the pipe connection between the delivery side of pump II and hose l2 is a meter I 9 having a shaft for operating registering mechanism 20 to register the quantity of gasoline delivered from the pump. 35

The registering mechanism 20 may be any suitable construction and need neither be shown nor described in detail herein since the present invention is not concerned with its particular construction. As shown generally in the drawing, it'may include a shaft 2| (Figure 2) which bears at its forward end one or more indicating hands 22 that sweep over the face of an indicating dial. A stop pawl 23 engageable with the shoulder of a cam 24 on shaft- 2l is provided to stop the resetting movement of the hands at the zero point of the dial.

The resetting of the indicator hands of registers of this general type is usually accomplished by rotation of, a knob in front of the glass 26 that protects the indicating hands and dial, the stem of the knob being projected through a. hole in the glass and suitably connected to the shaft 2l. An improved form of resetting mechanism` suitable for use in conjunction with registering therewith in the rst movement of resetting dedevices of this type will be briefly described herein because it provides improved means of effecting the setting back of the indicatorhands, avoids the necessity of making a hole through vthe glass cover of the dial and relieves the register and the meter entirely of the load of the set-back mechanism. f

At the rearward end the shaft 2| carries a gear 30. One of the resetting gears to be mentioned, being normallyl out of engagement with the gear 30, is-caused to move into engagement vice and thereafter to rotate the gear 30 andthe shaft 2| in a direction to reset the indicating hands. In the embodiment'bf the invention illustrated the setback gears 3I, 32, 33 are mounted on a swinging arm 34, formed of two plates between which the gears are supported, the gear 3 3 being mounted on a shaft or spindle- 35 supported in a suitable casting 36, secured to the casing 31'of the register mechanism; `-A fiat, U-

shapedspring38 engaged between the headed end 40 of the 'shaft or spindle which supportsI the gear'3I and .the adjacent plate 34 of the gear carryingarm, serves slightly to `compress the two plates 34 'ag'ainst the gear 3Il and 'thereby impose thereon a slight `frictionalJresistance fora purposeto be explained.

The gear 33;/of the train of gears 3|-'33, is engaged by a crowngear 4I carried by a shaft -42 which' is supported in the casting 36 and arranged to be .rotated in the resetting operation so relieving the register mechanism and meter by any convenient means- As illustrated herein, the shaft 42 is geared to an actuating shaft 50 that is aligned with and operable byl a drive 4shaft 5I provided with an operating handle 52.

Except when-pressure is applied to the operating handle 52, the swinging arm 34 and the gear train carried thereby will move of its Own weight from the position shown in full lines in AFigure 2 to the position shown in broken lines,

disengaging the gear 3| from the gear 30 and and shaft 2| until the indicating hands fare.

stopped from further movement, as by the -stop 23. As shown in Figure 5, the gear 3| is formed with a key 44 tting in a slightly wider key-way 45 in the hub 46 on which the geanis mounted.

'I'his arrangement provides a small amount of lost motion between the gear 3| and the frictional means 38 that permits the gear to turn forward a small amount after resetting in order to 4facilitate disengagement of its teeth from the teeth of gear 30. Thegear 30 is fixed to the shaft 2l so that the pawl 23 may act to stop the movement of actuating shaft 5|) also, for a purpose mentioned later.A

The inner end of shaft 5I is supported by a sleeve 53 connected to shaft 50 by a pin'54 and loosely mounted on shaft 5| by a washer 55.

-Mounted on contiguous portions of shafts 50 and 5| is an axially displaceable sleeve 56 provided with slots 51 engageable by antifriction rollers 60 'carried by pin 54. Sleeve 56 carries a cam roller 6| engaging a cam 62 that is secured to the drive shaft 5| and adapted to displace the sleeve 56 to the left. Sleeve 56 is also provided with a flange 63 for engaging and operating a bell crank 64 on such displacement of the sleeve. Bell crank 64 is connected by a link '65 to the switch operating arm I4 for moving the latter tp its on position to start the motor |Il.

A strong spring 66 mounted between a washer or collar 6'( on shaft 5I and the web 49 of sleeve 56 forces roller 6| againstcam 62. The cam 62 is formed with an abrupt shoulder 68 (Figure 3) normally in engagement with roller 6| so that drive shaft 5| on clockwise rotation may actl through shoulder 68 and roller 6I to turn sleeve 56, the latter acting in turn through pin 54 to operate actuating shaft 50 forresettingthe registering mechanism. i

When the pointers .of the registering device have been fully reset and stopped iii` their initial or zero -positions by engagement of the shoulder kWhen the force applied to turn drive shaft 5l tis increased, the shoulder 68 of the cam isforced beyond the roller 6|, thus disconnecting actuating,r shaft 50 from drive shaft 5I. As the attendant continues to operate drive shaft 5I the rotation of cam-62' acting on roller 6I displaces sleeve 56 to the left, and its flange 63 operates bell crank 64 and switch I3 to start the motor I0 for dispensing gasoline through hose I2.

When rotation of the shaft 5I- is discontinued spring .6 6 acts to displace sleeve 56 to the right, moving flange 63 away from bell crank 6E so that the motor switch may be moved to its off position when the hose is replaced on the hose hook I6. Spring 66 is preferably sufficiently powerful to turn shaft 5| if necessary, as in the event operation of the shaft should be inadvertently stopped while it is in a rotative position causing cam 62 to interfere with the movement of sleeve 56 to the right.

Reverse, or counterclockwise, rotation of drive shaft' 5| before (or after) effecting resetting is not effective to cause displacement of vsleeve 56 and hence can not result in improper operation of switch |3. On reverse rotation of shaft 5I, spring 66 still presses roller 6| against cam 62,

`thus frictionally connecting sleeve 56 to shaft 5| for rotation therewith. The gear 3| on resetting arm 4U being held by gravity out of engagement with gear 30 (or vswung from engagement therewith on reverse rotation of shafts 42 and 5|)` by sleeve56) does not supply the resistance required to disconnect shafts 50 and 5I and cause cam 62 to displace sleeve 56 to the left, as described above. Consequently, reverse operation of drive shaft 5| would merely cause sleeve 56,(actuating shaft 5U and the train ofresetting gears 3|-33 to be rotated idly. l

For the purpose of avoiding damage to the mechanism in the event the resetting handle 52 is operated while the hose yis on the hose hook, the bell crank 64 is preferably yieldingly connected to link rod 65, as illustrated in Figure 1, the spring 69 being of sufficient strength so as to yield to the movement of the bell crank only when considerable resistance is imposed.

The control switch la may be of the familiar spring-actuated toggle type. Such switches Inasmuch as f have a spring and lever mechanism which holds the switch in either the on or offk position after sufcient forcehas been applied to move the switch lever past center position and the spring is sufllciently strong to prevent improper operation of the switch through the medium of the weight of the bell crank 64 or connecting rods I5, 65, or accidental operation due to vibration.

From the foregoing description it may be seen that when the pump attendant has completed delivery of a quantity of gasoline to the customer, hung the delivery hose on the hose hook and thus automatically stopped the pump-operating motor, he cannot start the pump again to dispense gasoline to a succeeding customer until he has rst reset the registering mechanism to clear the previous indication. The registering mechanism may be reset and the pump started in a single operation upon arrival of the later customer, or the register may be reset immediately on` completing a delivery and the handle 52 further operated to actuate the interconnecting rod 65 so that vthe pump may be started when the later customer arrives. In either event, the possibility of the later customer being inadvertently or fraudulently charged for part or all of a previous delivery is eliminated due to the interlocking of the pump-controlling switch and the resetting mechanism of the register, as described herein.

Althoughan illustrative embodiment of the invention has been shown" and described in detail, there are many changes and variations which may be made without departing from the invention and, accordingly, `it is desired and intended to include all such changes andvariations within thelscope of the following claims.

I claim: V

1. In a fluid dispensing device, means for dispensing fluid, an indicator for indicating the quantity of fluid dispensed and means associated with the dispensing means and indicator for resetting the indicator to zero and then initiating operation of the dispensing means, comprising a rotatable shaft for actuating said resetting means to reset said indicator to zero, a member on the shaft and movable axially thereof for initiating operation of the dispensing means and means actuated by said shaft for moving said member axially thereof only when the indicator is at zero.

2. In a fluid dispensing device, means for dispensing fluid, an indicator for indicating the quantity of fluid dispensed, zero stop means for the indicator, and means for resetting the indicator to zero and then initiating operation of the dispensing means, comprising a rotatable actuating shaft for resetting the indicator and a rotatable drive shaft normally movable with the actuating shaft, elements interposed between said shafts establishing driving relation therebetween so that both shafts are rotatable together through a plurality of revolutions and until the indicator has been stopped at zero by the zero stop means, means for maintaining said elements in driving relation, said elements being relatively movable against the action of said maintaining means when said indicator has been stopped at zero to disestablish said driving relation whereupon the actuating shaft is restrained from further rotation and the drive shaft is left free for further rotation, and means mounted on said drive shaft and movable axially thereof, during such further rotation, for initiating operation of the dispensing means.

3. In a fluid dispensing device, means for actuating the device, an indicator for indicating the quantity of fluid dispensed, zerostop means as-` sociated with the indicator, and means for resetting the indicator to zero and then initiating operation of the dispensing device, comprising a rotatable actuating shaft, a relatively rotatable drive shaft normally movable with the actuating shaft, a member supported on said Ishafts and relatively movable axially thereof, both shafts and the member being freely rotatable through a plurality of revolutions whenthe zero stop means is inoperative, and cooperating elements movable with said shafts and actuated by relative rotation thereof to produce axial movement of the member to initiate operation of the dispensing device.

4. In combination, a device having registering means, resetting means therefor, and means controlling the operation of the device; a drive shaft; an actuating shaft for said resetting `means means, releasably connecting said shafts to permit relative movement therebetween; a sleeve mounted on said drive shaft and displaceable axially thereof for operating said control means; camming means associated with said drive shaft and said sleeve foreffecting said displacement of y[the latter upon relative rotation of the drive shaft and the actuating shaft; means associated.

with said drive shaft and said sleeve for preventing said displacement of the latter during operation of said actuating shaft by said drive shaft to reset said registering means; and means for stopping said registering means in the initial position thereof preventing further rotation of said actuating shaft and serving to render said camming means effective to displace said sleeve for operating said control means during subsequent operation of said drive shaft.

5. In combination, a device having registering means, resetting means therefor, and means controlling the operation of the device; an actuating shaft for said resetting means; a drive shaft for operating said actuating shaft; means releasably connecting said shafts for relative movement; a member mounted on said drive shaft and displaceable in one direction axially thereof for operating said control means; meansassociated with said drive shaft for preventing said displacement of said member during voperation of said actuating shaft by said drive shaft to reset said registering means; means for stopping said registering means in the initial position thereof preventing further rotation of said actuating shaft for causing relative rotation of said actuating shaft and said drive shaft to take place on further movement of said drive shaft:

means operable by said drive shaft upon such further movement thereof for effecting said displacement of said member to operate said control means; and means associated with said drive shaftand said member for displacing the latter in the opposite direction upon discontinuation of the operation of said drive shaft.

6. In combination a dispensing device having registering means and resetting means therefor, a shaft for operating said resetting means, means controllingthe operation of the device, a rotatable member mounted for axial displacement on said shaft to operate said control means, means connecting said member to said resetting means for actuating the latter on rotation of said member, camming means actuated with said member and shaft adapted upon relative rotation thereof to effect axial displacement of said member,

for maintaining driving relation therebetween through said camming means during the resetting operation for preventing displacement of said member, and means for stopping said registering means in its initial position acting to prevent rotation of 'said nember, thereby rendering said camming means operative to displace said member axially of said shaft to operate said control means. l

7. In combination, a dispensing device having registering means, resetting means therefor and means controlling the operation of the device, a shaft for operating said resetting means, a rotatable member mounted on said shaft and displaceable axially thereof for operating said control means, means connecting said member to said resetting means for actuating the latter on rotation of said member, a cam and cam roller associated with said member and said shaft adapted on relative rotation thereof to cause said displacement of said member, means maintaining driving relation between said member and said shaft for rotating said shaft through the intermediary of said cam and roller, and means for stopping said registering means in its initial position serving to prevent further rotation of said member with said shaft, thereby rendering said cam and roller effective on further rotation of xsaid shaft subsequent to resetting of said registering means to displace said member axially of said shaft to operate said control means.

8. In combination, a dispensing device having registering means, resetting means therefor, and means controlling the operation of the device; a shaft for-operating said resetting means; a rotatable member mounted on said shaft and displaceable axially thereof for operating said control means; means connecting said member to said resetting means for actuating the latter on. rota tion of said member; a cam and cam'E roller associated with said member and said shaft adapted on relative rotation thereof to cause' said displacement of said member; means maintaining driving relation between said member and said shaft for rotating said shaft through the intermediary of said cam and rolle; and means for stopping said registering means in its initial position, to render said carn fand roller ineffective to cause rotation of said member by said shaft and to render said cam and-roller Veffective to cause axial displacement of saidmember to oper-" ate said control means upon operation of said shaft subsequent to resetting of said registering means.

9. In a. dispensing system having a motor driven pump for dispensing liquid, means for registering the quantity of liquid dispensed, means means associated with said memberand shaft ciated with said resetting means and said operating means for preventing actuation of the latter to start said motor until said resetting means has been actuated to resetsaid registering means;

for resetting said registering means, a delivery hose, a movable hose hook, and means for controlling said motor connected to said hook, said control means being operable on removal of said hose from said hook to permit starting of said motor and operable by replacement of said hose to stop said motor; means for operating said control means to start the motor; and interlocking means associated with said resetting means and said operating means for preventing actuation of the latter to start said motor upon removal of said hose from said hose hook until said resetting means has been actuated to reset said registering means.

11. In a liquid dispensing device, means for establishing a flow of liquid, means for indicating the amount of liquid dispensed, means for resetting the indicator to Zero, means for initiating operation of said vflow establishing means, means for actuating said initiating means actuated by said resetting means upon continued operation thereof after the indicator has been reset to zero, and means preventing operation of the means for actuating said initiating means when said indicator is displaced from its zero position.

12. In a liquid dispensing device, flow establishing means, means for indicating the amount of liquid dispensed, means for resetting said indicator to zero including a stop member, means for connecting and disconnecting said indicator and resetting means, and means actuated by said resetting means and acting against said stop member through said resetting means when con nected with said indicator for initiating opera--l tion of said flow establishing means.

13. In a liquid dispensing device, means for establishing a flow of liquid, means for indicating the amount of liquid dispensed, means for resetting said indicator to Zero, stop means located in a position to be engaged by said resetting means only upon complete resetting of said indi* cator to Zero and serving to resist further movement of said resetting means after said indicator has been reset to Zero, means for initiating operation of said flow establishing means, and means for operating said initiating means actuated by said resetting means upon movement thereof against resistance imposed by said stop means.

CHARLES S. HAZARD.

CERTIFICATE or CORRECTION. E'atent No. 2,12O6} T5.,. June 1h., 1958.

CHARIES Se HAZARD.'

it is hereby eertified that error appears;` in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 5, second column, line 2l, claim LL, after meanse and before thesemicolon insert the words ndriven-by said drive sb.aft"; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to.'

the record of the Aease in the Patent Office.

'Signed and sealed this 9th day' of Augustg a@ DE, 1958.

Leslie Frazer '(Seal) Acting Commieeioner of Patentes A CRRTIFICATECF CORRECTION. ement No. 2,12C6Lp5.,y June 1hp leggo CHARLES s. HAZARD.-

is hereby Certified that error appears 1n the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring Correction as follows: Page v5;, second- Column, line 21, claim after Ineens and before the semicolon insert the words "driven -by said drive sheft"; and. that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that JChe seme may conform tofzhe record of the cese in the Patent Office.,

'Signed and sealed this 9thvday of Augustg A? DO `l958 'iiesiie` Frazer n '(Seal) lActing Commissioner of Patents 

